This invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for computed tomography (CT), and more particularly to methods and apparatus that provide for anomaly detection.
Lung cancer is a disease that is responsible for 28% of all cancer deaths in the U.S., or 157,000 deaths per year for every 165,000 diagnosed. Also, lung cancer patients have an increased survival rate if the disease is detected early. Computed Tomography (CT) is a useful technology to use for cancer detection as it provides high resolution, high throughput, and consistent image quality. However, CT is tends to find many indeterminate anomalies (e.g., nodules) that are difficult for a radiologist to classify.
One medical imaging modality different from Computed Tomography that is also used to detect and classify lung nodules is Radiography. Computed Aided Detection (CAD) algorithms have been developed for Radiography which have empirically shown to improve detection of anomalies such as lung nodules.